Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He practically ran home. He didn't knew why he felt so nervous, on edge. It's not like he didn't wanted this, in fact, he more often than not dreamed about this particular situation to happen.

But this was so sudden, so surprising. Of course he knew she was surprising but he never even thought...She never gave him any sign.

"Bro, are you like, OK? You look weird."

He nearly jumped, looking for whoever startled him in his own house. Chloé, of course, was sitting in his living room playing some game on her telephone and eating a bag of Doritos, looking like the epitome of a disinterested 13 year old girl going trough an emo phase, with her black nails, black clothes and dark eyeliner

"Chloé, are those my Doritos? I was saving then for after dinner!"

She merely shrugged at him.

"Whatever, is uncle Yann in here?"

"Yeah, he and Manon are in the backyard with your dad planning Daphné and Basile's anniversary or something" she said getting back to her game and chewing his Doritos.

Maybe that was good news, he thought, as Dad was in Nice filming a new short movie and Papa was a little intense about these things, uncle Yann and auntie Manon where great at giving advice.

He got to the backyard and he saw them sitting around the little round table used for breakfast outside when the climate was too beautiful on sundays to stay in the house.

"Oliver, my man!" Yann greeted him with a crushing hug and a loud kiss in the cheek.

"Hi beautiful" Manon kissed him in the other cheek.

"Hey Livvie" his Papa said.

"Papa, don't!" he groaned. He didn't used that nickname since he was 10, he was a man, damnit. He turned 16 on July 24th.

"Sorry, sorry Oliver" he laughed.

He sighed. Now or never.

"Papa, I need to talk to you about something. It's important"

"You want me to kick out these two? Because I was going to do it anyway just now"

"Oh, fuck off" said Yann, and opened another can of beer as to prove a point.

"Yann! Language"

"Please, Manon the kid is 16. It may have been a long time ago but I still remember how we talked back then."

"Anyway, I think I want you to listen, I could use some advice from both of you, too." he interrupted Manon's answer.

"What is it Oliver?" His Papa said.

"Well there is this girl..."

"Wrong parent, kiddo." Yann laughed.

"Shut up!"

"Um, yeah...there is this girl in my class and I really, really like her, I've liked her since the start of the year actually, she is my biology partner and I didn't dare to tell her how I feel."

"Why not?" Manon asked, surprised.

"Well, she is really smart, like the smartest in our class, Papa! She even has corrected the professor several times. Her father is some kind of scientist or something, she is so funny, too, and open minded..."

"Always a good thing, Oliver, I don't see the problem." Papa said giving a sip to his wine.

"And she is so pretty, Papa, so beautiful, she has the biggest blue eyes, the cutest smile and the longest blonde hair..." he was practically watching her in front of him, all golden hair, beautiful smile, confident eyes and cool jacket.

Papa scoffs "Blonde? You like a blonde girl? Where have we went wrong? Just wait untill your dad hears about this."

"Lucas! What the fuck?" Manon said while Yann smiled.

"Language, Manon!" he said.

"I was joking son, keep going"

"Well, today, after class, she asked me on a date!" he nearly screamed, barely controlling his voice and praying that Chloé was wearing her earplugs.

"But isn't that good?"

"Yes! but I was so dumb, I just turned red and mumbling and made a fool of myself, she just smiled and said she'll pick me up tomorrow at 6."

"Ohh so she has a car? Yann inquired.

"Well, yeah. She's 18 and..."

"She's WHAT??" He nearly spat the wine.

"Papa.."

"That's a no, Oliver."

"Oh aren't you a little hypocrite, Lucas?" Yann intervened. "I remember a couple exactly like that in high school".

"That was different, Eliott and me were in love."

"I certainly remember a few weeks when you weren't so in love" Said Manon.

"Just ask your aunt Chloé" Yann winked.

"OK THAT'S ENOUGH! Ugh, Fine. Why is she even in lyceé anyway?"

"Her family traveles a lot, she left school one year to travel with her parents because they missed her so much...she's been in all Europe...and that's it, I guess, I mean, what should I even talk about with her! She's so beautiful,
so smart! Half the guys in class and some of the girls are in love with her! She's so cool, she has a car and speaks several languages! And I...I mean, at the end of the day I'm just...me." he finally expressed the thought that consumed him ever after the initial shock and bliss.

"Oliver...I don't know why you think like that. Honey have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You are the son of the hottest guys I know and you look just like them! Don't bring yourself down..." Manon told him.

"You are far from boring too, kiddo. Aren't you the star of your soccer team? Arthur, Basile and I have gone to all of your games since you were 6 and believe me, it is a miracle how good you are compared to your parents who can't even dance without compromising the safety of everybody involved."

"Oliver, look at me." He looked at his Papa's eyes that were so much like his own , and he saw how much his Papa loved him and how sad his words had made him.

"We all have insecurities, we all have problems and defects. I assure you, not even this girl is as perfect as you want to see her, but that is just part of who we are as persons, we could not be ourselves without fears and insecurities, without our defects. The most important part is not letting them overwhelm us, and let them take our chances of being happy away. This girl saw something special on you, and if she is half as smart as you are telling me, she is going to see the great boy you are, how honest, smart, funny and lovely. Don't be scared of your date, yeah, it may be a mess, but you won't die because of that, life is just messy sometimes. I would know. You just have to remember to live it..."

"Minute by minute" he answered. "Thank you Papa" he hugged him and his uncle and his auntie.

"Wow Lucas now I see why Eliott fell for you, you poet."

"Yann, shut up."

"Papa?"

"Yes?"

"She's also taller than me."

Everybody laughed at this.

"Just shut up and go text your girlfriend, Livvie"

"Pappa!!"

"What's Wonder Girl's name, anyway?"

"Giselle, Giselle Valtersen".

Chapter Text

Lucas kind of expected Eliott's scream when he told him about Oliver's date on the phone that night.

What he didn't expect was him to ask for permission on his job as a the director of a short movie and take the train the next morning to be there for Oliver.

"Lucas this is a milestone in Oliver's life! We got to give him our support in this crucial time."

"Eliott, you are overreacting. It is just a date, he will be fine." Lucas explained "You have to relax a little"

"Says the one who spent almost 72 hours just looking at him as soon as we brought him from the hospital when he was born."

"Hey! I was just overwhelmed ok? You don't have to bring that up everytime, you make it sound like I was creepy."

"It was a little creepy. You just sat there looking at him like he was going to disappear at any moment"

"Shut up. Anyway, what is Oliver doing?"

"Last time I checked he was nearly crying because he can't make his hair to commit to a reasonable style, as he said. I blame you for that."

"Excuse me? Have you seen your hair? I am surprised you can go outside without some bird trying to lay their eggs on your head."

"You know, we can have our own date tonight too, I know a place where you can lay your eggs..."

"That is the worst innuendo I have ever heard in my life but yes. Anyway, I'll go to check on him"

Lucas gave a quick kiss to Eliott and went looking for his son.

He found him in his room, more specifically on the floor, on a mat.

"Oliver, what are you doing?"

"Hi, Papa, crunches, to get abs you know?"

"What? Why?"

"Girls like them?" he answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oliver. You have abs. And that girl is not going to see them anytime soon. Anyway it is nearly 6. Are you ready?"

The boy paled and did some kind of jump to the bathroom, where he proceeded to apparently shower in Eliott's cologne.

"Hey! You didn't pay for that!"

"Dad said it was ok!"

"Ok what? To cause the girl to asphyxiate?

His son ignored him.

"Oliver! She is here!" Eliott screamed unnecesarily loudly from their room.

The boy honestly squaked at this.

Lucas ran to the master bedroom aka the one where the window had full view of their entrance.

"She really is beautiful" Eliott commented.

That was an understatement. The girl standing in the entrance was tall and slender, her golden blonde curls where cascading behind her back and her blue shirt accentuated her eyes perfectly. She had a little mole above her lips and was wearing a haughty expression on her face.

Oliver emerged from the house and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, she really was taller than him. She smirked and gave him a helmet.

"Why a helmet?" Lucas asked.

"She came in a motorcycle" Eliott said, pointing at a very impressive Harley Davidson behind her.

"WHAT? Oliver said she had a car! He can't just go on a motorcycle! I'll tell him..."

"Lucas, you own a motorcycle, and Oliver has, in multiple occasion, traveled with you."

"It's not the same!" he argued as he watched his son's wild mane (still Eliott's fault) hide under the helmet.

"Baby, relax, let our son enjoy this, ok? He will be fine."

As Oliver and this Giselle left, Lucas suddenly realized something.

"Where were they said they are going?"

"Oliver said she told him it was a surprise."

That was enough. Lucas ran downstairs and grabbed his keys.

"Lucas! Where do you think you are going!?"

"I um, to Yann and Chloe's, we never agreed the flavor of Basile and Daphne's cake!"

"Lucas!!"

But he was already in his car. He just wanted to see the plan of this Giselle Valtersen.

Chapter Text

Oliver was a little afraid of tightening his grip of Giselle's waist. He was definitely not prepared for such blunt physical contact, at least so soon. And maybe he shouldn't feel so conscious about it. It was neccesary for traveling on a motorcycle, if Giselle was to feel uncomfortable with it, she wouldn't have brought her motorcycle, right? They could easily travel by bus or something. And she smelled so nice, too, like some kind of flower. Then again, all perfumes smell like flowers, he guesses, or maybe just girl perfumes? No, that is sexist. Is he a disappointment to his country for not knowing about perfumes? Either way she smelled nice.

"You hear the sound of the bikes' motor, Oliver?"

"Um... yeah?"

"Well it isn't as loud as your brain right now. Chill."

Why does he always blush so hard? That must be unhealthy. Dad said that he and Pappa were always confident in their interactions. He said his biggest accomplishment was making Pappa blush once, when he told him that he was the only thing that mattered. Oliver asked Pappa what he did then but they never really told him what happened after.

"And hold on tighter or you'll end up cracking your skull on the pavement"

At this point that didn't sound so bad.

They parked near a little café close to the river. Giselle removed her helmet and her hair looked straight out from a shampoo ad. Golden Blonde curls that reached her mid back.

"Your hair is pretty. I mean, it looks nice. You must take care of it a lot" God he sounded like an idiot.

"You think I care about my hair? Not really, you should see my dad. He has more hair products than all my friends combined, he pretends he doesn't want to look like James Dean, But i see him."

"You should see my parents' hair, is a mess. Actually, you can, just watch my head."

Giselle giggled a little at that. She smiled so big that she almost closed her eyes, that was more than anything the reason of his crush.

They entered the café, and ordered beverages and crepes.

" I would never say this in front of my dad, but french food is so much better than what we had in Norway, there's only so many ways of eating a cheese toast."

"Well, don't tell my Pappa, but I actually prefer Mexican food." Oliver confessed. Yup, he was a traitor to his country.

Giselle gasped. "Oliver! what next? Are you going to celebrate Cinco de Mayo?"

"They didn't even celebrate that day in Mexico you know? It is just an American excuse to eat guacamole. As if you need one."

"A man of culture! I like it."

Damn, that blush again. Distraction, quickly!

"You know, you said our date was going to be a surprise, but a café is very uninspired I must say."

"Yeah, I know I didn't even plan anything, this was just to earn time." she said, laughing.

"Really?" She didn't plan anything? Maybe this date wasn't as serious for her as it was for him. He should have Known with capital K. Maybe she was just bored? And thought he seemed as a good distraction. Maybe she just wanted a friend, or maybe he overreacted? A date is not that important, even if it is your first one. It is one of the dumbest rituals of adolescence. He should stop watching all those romantic comedies from the 80's with his dad...

"No," She seemed to understand his face " I mean, I have this thing, I like not having a plan, so you can just, do things as the inspiration comes. Like letting life show you what's next."

"That actually sounds very cool" Ok back to the 80's movie. There will be no more doubting himself. Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

"Dad said he inspired that, but he is wrong, it was Leonardo in Titanic, you know? Not knowing where are you going to be tomorrow and all that"

"I understood that reference, Nick. I couldn't do it though, I guess I like planning things. It is called comfort zone for a reason."

"Well maybe we should try and change that don't you think? " She winked.

Is it possible to die of a heart attack at 16? Is that too cliché? Right back at her for winking, nobody does that in real life.

"I guess we could try it..."

"Don't be afraid" She teases.

"Not afraid, not afraid."

Have you seen those scenes in shows when people are on dates and they take turns looking at each other while the other is not watching and all that cheesy stuff? Oliver always thought that was dumb as hell. Well, while they were eating they totally did that stuff. He felt a little bit like an idiot watching the sun in her hair and hearing the sound when Giselle laughed so hard at the story of how his Pappa ended in hospital after Dad insisted in cooking their anniversary dinner, and puked on the doctor. He really wanted this first date to be special, he wanted to be surprising. She seemed to like surprising people

"Giselle, what are you afraid of?"

"Well, I don't know...war? Not fan of spiders to be honest, and the insignificance of our existence in the overall scheme of the world and human history. The remakes of Shame ruining the original story? Scary. Also, heights.

"Heights? But you are like...tall."

"Funny."

"No, no but wait then we can do something with that." He checks his phone " Here in Paris we have bouldering, free fall simulator and....parachute jump."

"Now is when my own plan comes back to bite my ass isn't it?"

"Or we can go to the movies, you know if you are so afraid..."

"Oh you think you are so smart, fine. I'll go to the bathroom and when I get back we are gonna jump from a fucking plane." She said as she got up.

Yikes, he hopes that was just a joke.

"Oliver! You won't do that until the day I DIE understood? And then I'll get back and you won't do it either way. And why did you have to tell the story about our anniversary? That's so disrespectful I puked on the nurse."

"Pappa! What are you doing here? Where is Dad? Where you spying us?" Well that was offensive.

"Whatever you are very wrong if you think..."

"Oliver? Are you alright?" Giselle came back, apparently she only needed paper towels. "Is this tiny man bothering you?"

"WHAT? What do you mean..?

"No, no, no Giselle, this is my Pappa. He is here, because...I forgot my wallet at home. He brought my wallet, right Pappa?

"Um, yes of course."

"Oh, Oliver you shouldn't have done that, I asked you out, I'm paying. I'm sorry, monsieur Lallemant-Demaury. Nice to meet you."

"Yes, hi. Um you are not really parachute jumping right?

"God, no I was joking, bouldering indoors for me."

"Oh, just, just remember to wear the obligatory safety gear."

The fact that earth didn't open and swallow him right there just proved that ALL universes hated Oliver.